


Chinese Food Trippin'

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Comfortember 2020 [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Chinese Food, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: “What are you going to get?” Peter questioned curiously as the man got up.Tony gave it a moment of thought, then shrugged, “I’m thinking maybe Chinese.”Peter’s eyes went wide briefly before dropping his face back to neutral, “Oh.”“What?” Tony asked.“No, nothing,” Peter waved his hand, taking a large bite of his meal.“No, what?”ORThere is a very specific reason that Peter avoids eating Chinese food. If only Mr. Stark had listened.Comfortember, Day 3: Nightmare
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995802
Comments: 33
Kudos: 179
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Chinese Food Trippin'

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 of Comfortember, go read my other prompts in this challenge if you wish! (They're all unrelated)
> 
> Just a cute, funny little fic based on my own life :)

“Alright, Kid, you got everything you need for this project now?”

Tony and Peter were at the mall. It was Friday night, the night Peter always stayed over at the tower to tinker with Tony until the wee hours of the morning. This Friday, however, he had shown up and insisted that Tony drive him straight to the mall, as he had a project due on Monday, and not only did he need to work on it, but he needed Tony’s help.

Tony had obliged of course, more than thrilled to have Peter not only asking for his help but accepting his financial support for the supplies needed for the project to be completed. Neither Peter nor May were huge fans of accepting any help from the man usually, they didn't want charity and May worked hard to provide for her family, but when it came to school the two were usually laxer on that rule. Peter’s education was important and if Tony was willing to help, it was a great burden off their backs.

“I think so,” Peter nodded, his arms loaded with bags.

“Alright, great, how about some dinner before heading back then, huh? Food court okay with you?” Tony smirked, knowing that Peter loved eating at the food court, much to Tony’s dismay, but seeing the smile on the kid’s face was worth it.

“Awesome! Can we get a pretzel on the way out too?”

Tony rolled his eyes, “If we  _ must _ ,” he joked.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark!” Peter beamed.

Yep, it was totally worth it.

“Alright, here’s my card, go crazy,” the man handed the plastic over.

The boy accepted the money and quickly walked over to his favourite food booth, purchasing way too much food but knowing Tony would only yell at him if he didn’t buy enough to fill himself properly. When his food was served up he walked back over to where Tony had saved them a table and handed the card back for Tony to go get his own food.

“What are you going to get?” Peter questioned curiously as the man got up.

Tony gave it a moment of thought, then shrugged, “I’m thinking maybe Chinese.”

Peter’s eyes went wide briefly before dropping his face back to neutral, “Oh.”

“What?” Tony asked.

“No, nothing,” Peter waved his hand, taking a large bite of his meal.

“ _ No,  _ what?” Tony smirked now, wondering what exactly was making his kid squirm like there were ants in his pants, “That Chinese joint give people food poisoning or something? ‘Caus if so, you better tell me, kid, I could just as easily go for a burger.”

He shook his head, “No, it’s nothing like that,” Peter assured.

“Then what?” Tony pressed, getting slightly annoyed and feeling hungry.

Peter shrugged, “Chinese food just gives me nightmares.”

Tony’s lip upturned, “Excuse me?”

“It’s no big deal! I just have nightmares whenever I eat Chinese food.”

Tony snorted, but turned more serious when he saw Peter wasn’t joining in, “And you’re sure it’s not just a coincidence?”

“No! I’m sure it’s the Chinese. It happens every single time, Tony! You’ve never noticed it happens with you?” the boy asked, skeptically.

“I’ve never put too much thought into it, Kid,” Tony shook his head, still highly amused, “But, I’m starving, so I think I’m going to take my chances.”

“Alright,” Peter sighed, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Tony did take the risk, a whole plate full along with an extra order of sweet and sour chicken balls, which Peter refused to share with him, even when Tony declared he couldn’t eat another bite and would just be throwing them away.

They had a wonderful evening, getting back to the tower and working on Peter’s school project for much of the night, opting to turn in early as opposed to tinkering afterward, the schoolwork tiring them both out more than they expected. Instead, they put on a cheesy Disney movie and went to bed before midnight, which may have been a record for the pair. Tony was getting the hang of being a responsible adult, May would be proud of him, so would Pepper. Tony went to bed thinking about his fiance, dreaming of having her wrapped up in his arms in a few days when she got back from her business trip. He fell asleep with a smile on his face at the thought.

“ _ Mr. Stark! Did you hear the news?” Peter came running into the lab where Tony had been tinkering on his suit for much of the morning. _

“ _ Peter? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” _

“ _ It doesn’t matter! Did you see Twitter? Captain America died!” the boy exclaimed, not a hint of a joke in his voice, though not looking quite as upset as he thought Peter would be in this situation. _

“ _ What! How? I didn’t even think—” _

“ _ He went to battle wearing my suit instead of his, but Mr. Stark, I told him he didn’t know how to swing properly. He just wouldn’t listen!” _

“ _ What?” Tony shook his head, “When have you even talked to Steve? He’s been in hiding since—he can’t be dead!” _

_ He was suddenly filled with an unmistakable sadness. _

“ _ Tony, it doesn’t matter! Look!” the boy held up his phone, showing a picture of what he presumed was Steve, flat as a pancake on the side of a building, “See! He didn’t shoot the web fast enough.” _

“ _ No,” Tony whispered, not processing any of his emotions properly. _

“ _ Tony,” Pepper called, showing up out of nowhere and pulling him away from Peter, “Hurry up, we have a meeting for SI in five minutes.” _

_ Tony didn’t know why, but the change in scene made sense, and he couldn’t be late again! Pepper would never forgive him. He quickly followed her down the hallway and into a boardroom. A boardroom right beside his lab? It made so much sense, that must be why he put it there. _

“ _ Tony Stark,” one of the new partners stood up holding out his hand to shake, but he pulled away in horror a second later, “Do you think I’m a joke to you!?” _

“ _ What?” Tony questioned, looking down to where the man’s eyes were fixed. He had no pants on. How could he forget that? He always remembered his pants, they went on every morning, it wasn’t something he could just—forget it. It didn’t matter because suddenly a news story blared on the TV. _

**_Breaking news, Spider-Man’s identity has been revealed. His name is Peter Parker, 15, from Queens—_ **

_ Tony shook his head, no. This was horrible. His poor kid, his life was ruined. He needed to find him, he needed to make sure nobody had gotten to him, he needed—Peter! Peter! _

“Peter!” Tony shot up in his bed, his pajamas were soaked, so were his sheets. He heaved heavily trying to make sense of his surroundings.

“Tony,” Peter’s groggy voice came from the darkness, and then he was through the door, “Tony are you okay? You were yelling, and FRIDAY said your heart rate was elevated.”

Tony shook his head, still attempting to shake the awful feeling of the dreams away, “I’m fine, Pete, just some bad dreams—”

“You had a nightmare?”

Tony nodded, attempting to even out his breathing, “ _ Nightmares _ , more than one, and they were  _ weird _ , not my normal playlist of horror. Steve died trying to be Spider-Man and I had no pants and Spider-Man, everybody knew and I couldn’t help—”

Peter nodded along like he was expecting the explanation all along, “The Chinese food,” he stated simply, “I told you, there’s nothing like Chinese food dreams.”

Tony halted his messy rambling to stare at the kid.

“I... are you serious?” he shook his head with a mild chuckle, “You’re telling me you were right and my dinner did this to me?”

“I told you, Mr. Stark! Every single time!”

“That’s insane... how does that even work...”

“I dunno,” Peter shrugged, “Something to do with the MSG or whatever, it’s a real thing, you can even Google it!”

Tony shook his head, “Well, I’ll be damned. You were right, kid.”

“I’m always right, Mr. Stark,” Peter gave a cheeky grin.

Tony rolled his eyes with a smirk, “Okay, okay, oh wise one. Now tell me this, how does one get back to sleep after a ‘Chinese food dream’? Because I’m not sure it’s possible,” he admitted, feeling ridiculous that the dreams had messed with him so much, but his shaking hands confirmed that they had.

Peter smiled softly, pushing the man in the middle of the chest, “Lay down, I’ll stay with you until you fall back to sleep.”

“This is a bit of a role reversal, isn’t it?” Tony remarked as his kid rested his arm across the man’s chest in comfort.

“It’s okay, I owe you one,” Peter murmured, resting his head beside Tony’s, “Goodnight, Tony.”

Tony breathed out, feeling slightly embarrassed at needing his kid to comfort him, but not feeling quite calm enough to deny the comfort just yet either, “Night, Kid.”

He closed his eyes, focusing on the comforting arm grounding him to reality. He knew one thing for sure, next time, he was opting for the burger.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone else have this same issue after eating Chinese food? Tell me about it in the comments!! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Please comment! It makes all the hard work worthwhile!! :)


End file.
